Phoenix weather: Hot weekend ahead

PHOENIX -- When the monsoon takes a break in August it usually gets hot and that appears like it’s going to be the case across Arizona the next week.

No major outbreaks of storms are expected with most activity limited to the higher elevations of our state. There is a slight chance for PM storms are Sunday in metro Phoenix.

But the main story for next week will probably be excessive heat. A ridge of high pressure is building into the desert Southwest and we’re looking at desert highs in the 107 to-112 range next week. It’s even possible a couple of those days we’ll set some records.

Speaking of records, this is one of my favorite bits of Phoenix weather information in a long time. It comes from Nancy Selover at the Arizona State Climatology office. Now as you read this, remember that the last record high we recorded in Phoenix was June 1, 2012, a little more than two months ago.

The last record low we set at Sky Harbor International Airport was on Dec. 23, 1990, when we dropped to 26 degrees. That’s nearly 22 years ago.

Since then we've had 144 record highs (not including ties).

Also in that same period, we had 230 record high-lows. In other words, warmest low temps on any given date.